Language Politics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62690094%3A18460%2F22%3A50019991" target="_blank" >RIV/62690094:18460/22:50019991 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.peterlang.com/document/1169769" target="_blank" >https://www.peterlang.com/document/1169769</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Language Politics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Original language description

This chapter examines language management processes in the higher educationsector in South Africa as a deeply politicized domain which exhibits complex dynamics ofinterests and power. It primarily discusses how a student movement at Stellenbosch University(SU) embraced a discourse that has accentuated the power of English as the primary academiclingua franca of the country. This pro- English interest and discourse is juxtaposed with onethat portrays the Afrikaans language (the previously main language of learning and teachingat SU) as a “tool of exclusion” and in holding on problematic power constellations which area legacy of apartheid. The chapter is based on an analysis of the language politics unfoldingat SU in the years between 2014 and 2016 and it argues that this context provides fruitfuldata for research into the socio- cultural politics of English as an academic lingua franca.Employing Language Management Theory (LMT) as analytical lens (Jernudd &amp; Neustupný1987; Nekvapil 2006; Nekvapil &amp; Sherman 2015), I examine why and how macro and microlanguage management processes have triggered divisive and conflict- riddled language politicsat SU. While there is continued polarization of interests among students, alumni andlanguage policy makers about the role of English vis- à- vis Afrikaans, I would like to demonstratethat according to the LMT model of the micro- (meso)- macro- (meso)- micro cycle, theinstitutional language management exhibits, unlike some other South African universities, acertain success. There appears to be approximation, albeit restricted, to a complete languagemanagement cycle in a sense that demands of changes in the institutional language practicesand metalanguage discourses at the micro level of SU have significantly informed the decisionsand power dynamics at the macro level of the institution. This ultimately resulted in languagepolicy changes on the macro level and specific implementations at the micro level.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

C - Chapter in a specialist book

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50601 - Political science

Project

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Continuities

N - Vyzkumna aktivita podporovana z neverejnych zdroju

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Book/collection name

Interests and Power in Language Management

ISBN

978-3-631-86061-8

Number of pages of the result

22

Pages from-to

101-122

Number of pages of the book

378

Publisher name

Peter Lang

Place of publication

Berlin/Bern, et al.

UT code for WoS chapter

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